7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer

Jesus

When I feel beaten

          and alone,

When it seems all is lost

          or forgotten,

Let me cling to YOUR spirit.

Allow me to gain strength

          through your love.

Come.

Dwell in my soul.

AMEN

Journal/Reflection Questions

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18

• How is holiness described here? How is your personal holiness connected to others?
• To love others as Jesus loves is a tall order. Are there people in your life with which you hold a grudge? Feel contempt toward? Consider unworthy of your time or attention?
• How does it feel when you carry a grudge, hatred, or revenge with you and into your relationships?

1Corinthians 3:16-23

• Can a person deceive themself? Can they lie to themself? Share an example.
• If God dwells in you, you are the tabernacle. How do you treat your body as the temple of God? How do you honor God within yourself?
• How do you treat the “temple of God”? What can you do to take better care of yourself knowing within you dwells God?

Matthew 5:38-48

• Jesus said the “old” law was to seek justice, “an eye for an eye” but the “new” law says to “turn the other cheek.” This is easier said than done but have you done it? Reflect on a time when you were able to “turn the other cheek”, how were you able to do this?
• What makes it difficult to turn the other cheek? Name the feeling. Where does it come from?
• Consider your actions toward someone who has hurt you. What are the feelings you feel when you are around that person or when you know you know you will need to interact with them? What steps can you take to transform those negative feelings into more positive ones?
• Spend time reflecting on how Jesus lived out this Gospel message in his final days on earth. What can you take from this example and apply to a situation you are experiencing at this time in your life?

General Questions for Journaling

• How do you define community?
• Are you a member of one or more communities?
• What value do you derive by being a part of a community?

• What does it mean to be holy? How can you be holy like God is holy? Where do you start?
• Where do you see God’s holiness in your life? What signs of heaven do you find here on earth?

• Is there someone whom you are in conflict with right now? What stands in the way of reconciliation?
• What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see your sin or your potential?
• Imagine your heart is a garden, what condition is your garden in? What do you need to do so God can grow more abundantly in your heart? What do you need to weed out? What do you need to plant?
• Knowledge you can measure through testing to show how much you know. How is wisdom measured?
• On a scale from 1-10, identify the wisdom within. How do you rate? Do you know anyone whom you’d rate at a 10?
• Who taught you about taking turns or how to be fair?
• How does it feel when you don’t get your turn?
• Are there situations in your life right now that are “not fair”? How do you deal with them?
• Is there something in your life (a sin) which tempts you? How often do you give in? What helps you to resist?
• Have you ever been able to find peace in an unfair situation? Share.

• When was the last time you gave more than was required or asked for? What was the situation? Why did you give more?
• Are there people in your life who have hurt you? Have you forgiven them for that hurt? What did you do or what do you need to do in order to let go of the hurt and allow forgiveness to work?
• Identify where evil lurks in your life. How do you identify it? How do you feed it? What can you do to resist evil?
• One of the hardest things for humans to do is to let go and forgive. Is there someone who is waiting for your forgiveness? What can you do to begin to work on forgiving that person?

Closing Prayer

Leader:  Holy is the word of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is the WORD!

Leader:  Holy is the flesh of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is the BODY!

Leader:  Holy is the blood of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is the BLOOD!

Leader:  Holy is the cross of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is the CROSS!

Leader:  Holy is the peace of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is His PEACE!

Leader:  Holy is the name of Jesus,

ALL:  Holy is His NAME!

Challenge for the Week:  Pray, Pray, Pray.  Pray for yourself, pray for those you love, pray for friends and family who are sick or have asked for prayers and don’t forget to pray for those who have hurt you or who persecute you?  This does not mean to pray for them to stop hurting you, rather to prayer for their soul; pray for their conversion; pray their hurt may be healed; pray they seek God.  It is not easy to pray for good things for those who hurt you or persecute you.  It is human instinct is to wish them harm, but remember Jesus says in the Gospel this week you must love your enemies.  Consider also how you can show love toward those who hurt you.  Turn to the Bible to find examples you follow.

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